"We will get better as the tournament goes on," added McCormack. "We had to show a lot of spirit and we will certainly get better for next week."

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Brierley scores Scotland's first ever try against Australia

Australia 'outsmart' Scotland

Australia winger Blake Ferguson opened the scoring on the left, Cooper Cronk pounced on a clever grubber kick from Cameron Smith to score and then combined with Matt Moylan to put James Maloney in between the posts.

Debutant Tyson Frizell sent Cronk in from 30 metres, and Australia made the most of a Scotland in-goal drop out to put Josh Mansour over. The winger added his second with a dive into the corner.

Scotland, who qualified for the tournament for the first time by winning the 2014 European Cup, responded shortly before half-time when captain Brough's kick was deflected into the path of Huddersfield team-mate Brierley, who pounced to score on his debut.